by Arik Devens

Pygmalion

They have a chemistry that's hard to explain.

This was a complete surprise. Not that I liked the film, I’ve disliked very, very few of the Criterion movies I’ve seen. No, that I loved it. What a wonderful film! The acting by Wendy Miller is incredible, as is that of Leslie Howard. Not romantic really, but rather just that they both seem completely perfect for their roles and in their interactions with each other. The whole movie is basically perfect. Even the ending, which the writer Bernard Shaw didn’t want, seems absolutely correct. I don’t know if the characters would have ended up happily together, but they would definitely have ended up unhappily apart. I haven’t seen the remake with Audrey Hepburn, and I’m looking forward to it, but it can hardly be any better than this version, it’s just so great.